by J. K. Mabrey
Fire continued to rain down on them as they just stood behind their cover. Charra begrudgingly found cover behind a tall crate. The crates rocked from the fire, but they held up well. Zavik's support showed little desire to move from the blasts. He dropped a power pack from the pistol and slid a fresh one in just to make sure he didn't run out of energy.
He poked his head around and drew their fire. He saw one of the slavers trying to flank Charra's position to his left. He moved from cover to open fire but the incoming blasts were too close.
"Charra, on your nine!" he said.
Charra took a grenade and held it in his hand briefly. He blindly tossed it in the air behind him and it exploded almost as soon as it hit the ground. A brief scream was heard, but t was drowned out by the blast.
"We're pinned down," Zavik said.
"Time to call in the cavalry?" Brax asked.
"I think so." Zavik radioed Dani. Always the cavalry when they needed her.
"What is it?" she asked in a tone that clearly stated she knew they were in trouble.
"We're in a bit of a situation," Zavik said.
"And you want me to bail you out?"
"Would you be so kind? We're at the main hangar, and there are a few people who would like it if we didn't make it back for dinner. Could you help clear the air?"
"For you, dear, anything," she said. "Rudy, lower the boarding ramp. We'll be right there."
Charra tossed down one of his rifles and pulled his sidearm pistol. He unleashed a full clip from his power pack into the side of the skiff. A Savin maneuvering around the ship to get a better angle was a little too exposed and was shot down.
Suddenly the Rinada appeared outside the open door. The low cannon tucked under the cockpit fired four shots at the skiff and it exploded in a hot fireball sending metal shards hurling through the air. The flames reached up and kissed the top of the structure before black smoke took its place. Smoke began to pour out the main door. Two of the Savins were caught in the blast and disappeared behind the wall of flames that engulfed the unrecognizable wreckage. The third Savin stumbled away trying to shield himself from the heat of the fire. He dropped his weapon and collapsed on the floor.
Zavik and Charra went back down the hallway towards the cages. They released the locks and the door swung free. Zavik told them that someone would be there shortly to help them all. A few thanked him, but most were silent. Many didn't even move when their doors opened. One Chokmnd broke down in tears and started threatening to kill them. He seemed to think it was all a trick and that all the slaves were being taken to be executed for not selling quick enough. Zavik assured him that wasn't the case, but when he started lashing out and swinging violently, Zavik thought it would be best just to leave him be.
They grabbed the crates of power cores still sitting in the hallway and rushed them down to the main hangar. Charra was forced to haul four crates down the hallway because Brax hadn't followed them. He was still standing over the Savin that collapsed to the floor. He was the last slaver left in the building.
"Brax, we have to get out of here," Zavik said. "They may be slavers, but we still can't steal these power cores. If the authorities see them, they'll be confiscated as evidence."
Brax held his gun up slightly from the ground. It was pointed in the direction of the Savin. His face was calm and clear. The Savin was getting to his knees.
"Hey, you can't do anything," the Savin said. "My legs are hurt. I need help."
"What are you doing?" Zavik asked. Brax twitched and Zavik said, "You don't want to do that."
"Why not!" he barked. "They're animals. They should be put down like animals."
"It's not for you to decide," Zavik said.
"So it's ok to kill them when they're fighting?" he asked.
"This would be cold blooded murder," Zavik said.
"No," Brax said, "this would be justice. This would be just what he deserves, what they all deserve."
"Hey now!" the Savin said scooting back on his knees.
"Shut up!" Zavik shouted at him.
"For what they did to those people, for what they do to people all over the Galaxy," he paused. "For what they did to him." He pulled the trigger. The gun recoiled amid a flash of red light and the Savin flopped over on his back. A brief plume of smoke and blood spewed from his chest as Brax lowered his gun.
"We have to go!" Charra yelled from the boarding ramp. Zavik walked slowly away from the body, glancing back as Brax lingered over the body for another moment.
Zavik heard Dani yell from the cockpit, "Everyone on board?"
Brax took the final steps from the ramp to the deck and Charra gave her a resounding yes. The ship pulled out of the hangar and jetted for space. Charra pushed some of the crates to the back of the ship and began loading them in the cargo hold. Brax collapsed at the table and buried his head in his arms. Zavik looked at him, unsure how what to do. He hadn't just killed an innocent kid, but Zavik still felt it was wrong. He wanted to ask what came over him, but he knew it wasn't the right time. Brax needed a few minutes to come to terms with his actions. Zavik left him alone and went to help Charra finish loading the crates in the cargo hold.
When Zavik and Charra came back to the living area Brax was still sitting at the table. Charra and Zavik didn't talk about what Brax did while loading the cargo. They each thought it best to be left alone.
Dani walked into the living area and asked, "What the hell happened back there?" She saw Brax with his head still down and asked, "What's wrong with him?"
Zavik walked up to her and pursed his lips. He shook his head very slightly while looking deep into her eyes. She seemed to get the point. Her eyes opened a little wider and she glanced over at Brax. Her face fell sullen and she sighed.
"Let's get these power cores to Garos," Zavik said.
"Yeah, ok," she replied as he led her back to the cockpit.
Zavik sat down and plotted a path for them to get back to Garos. They had to go from Jeyago to Telemare where a portal to Earth was that could lead them to Garos.
Dani asked softly, "Zavik, what happened back there?"
He kept silent for a moment, unsure what to say, or even if he should say. He thought she had a right to know what happened, and why the mission was almost jeopardized.
"Brax wanted to free the slaves that were being held there," he said.
"That wasn't part of the plan," she said.
"I know." He snapped a little more than he felt she deserved. He knew it wasn't part of the plan, but in this business, a lot of times things don't always go according to plan. His nerves were still shaken just a bit. He took a deep breath to try and calm himself. "I think he wanted to find them the whole time. I think his intentions were to free those people, no matter what happened."
"The only way to free them was to kill all the slavers," she said.
"Yeah," he said, his mouth hung open and dry.
"What?" she asked. "So you killed slavers. They were shooting at you, I saw that. I didn't like it. It was supposed to be a stealth mission. No danger, remember."
"Yeah," he replied, the same as before.
"No one's going to be sad about a couple of dead slavers, no matter who killed them or why."
"But..."
"What is it? What's wrong?"
"There was one slaver who...who was hurt from the skiff explosion. He was unarmed. He wasn't a threat to anyone. The authorities would have arrested him, and who knows what happens to him then, but Brax killed him."
She paused. "Maybe he saw him reaching for a gun," she said.
"No," Zavik said, his voice firm and heavy. "We were both standing over him and he just pulled out his gun and shot him. I tried to talk him out of it. Said, we're not murderers, we're not like them, but he was consumed by a hatred of him. It was like this slaver embodied everything Brax hated. He said, something..."
"What?" she asked.
"He mentioned someone. Him. Said it was for what they did to him."
&
nbsp; "Who?" she pressed.
"I don't know, but it was someone specific, someone he knew."
"It was my brother," Brax said from the door of the cockpit, catching them both by surprise.
Dani jerked her head around quickly. "Your brother?" she asked.
Zavik saw a brief flush rush over her face. He felt awkward talking about Brax like that behind his back, but it was his ship and his wife. She had a right to know.
"When I was nine years old I lived on Chokmna with my mother and father. I had an older sister and a younger brother. We lived in a small town where nothing important ever happened. My father farmed our little plot of land and my mother made trinkets to sell down at the local market to tourists and space traders. We were secluded from the workings of the Galaxy. I had no idea what space travel was like or even much about the other races, other than what I had learned about our history in school.
"Around that time a new criminal organization started hunting people down, stealing them, capturing them, and then selling them. The Council didn't take the threat seriously. They said it was only a few hundred people who had disappeared, that they weren't being sold into slavery, and that there were more important things they had to worry about. The Chokmna government didn't like that response, and they started educating the citizens on what to look out for. Families on the outskirts of towns were specifically at risk. It was easier to get in and out without being spotted or tracked.
"One day..." a lonely tear streamed down the side of Brax's face. He swallowed a hard lump and continued. "One day my brother and I were out in the fields harvesting some kerp grass to put in a stew mom was going to make. I can still remember the smell of it simmering in the kitchen. Sweet herbs and a thick wine sauce. I remember, we were always so excited to have wine sauce. We thought we were really drinking wine. We would all act drunk, or what we thought drunk was, after we tried some. Mom was simmering the stew, and my father was down at the market to pick up some bread to go with the stew, and to try and move a few of the items mom had just finished making. He probably needed to do that so he could afford to buy the bread. I think my sister was inside, probably watching mom's efforts, and trying to steal a taste of the wine before it went into the stew.
"Suddenly, I remember hearing a roaring sound of a turbine whiz past our house. I looked up and saw a small ship banking hard to the right. It came around and hovered right over us. I knew what it could be, what it was. We had been warned of talking to strangers and getting lost in unknown areas and crowds. They even warned about ships flying over and seeing easy prey, as they called it. But what can you really do about that? We had to continue living. Mom and Dad had to work, and there was nothing that could be done from our perspective to stop it. My father had some weapons of course, who didn't, but they didn't do us any good that time. I ran. I ran for the house and screamed. My mom hid my sister. A girl was worth more to the right people, the wrong people, than a boy. I tripped climbing the stairs to our porch and twisted my ankle. I tried to stand but the pain just kept shooting up my legs whenever any weight was put on it, so I rolled under the stairs and crawled my way under the porch.
"I knew my brother was behind me. I screamed for him to follow when I started running, but I never looked back. I never made sure. I was hiding under the porch like a scared dog when I saw my brother get hit across his head by the butt of a rifle. He collapsed in a heap on the ground. A Savin slung him up over his shoulders, his head dangling loosely over his back. The Chokmnd who hit him moved towards our house. I was frozen. I couldn't move. I wanted to run. To run into the house, and find my mother, but also to run to my brother who was now being carried onto the ship.
"I heard our vehicle pull up in the driveway and the Chokmnd who was getting closer and closer to the porch did too. He ran back to his ship and closed the door. I clawed my way out from under the porch. My face was wet and soggy. I didn't realize I had been crying so much. I could barely see, and my ankle still burned with pain. It was already swelling. The swelling would last almost two weeks, a reminder of how cowardly I was, how weak.
"My father ran around back as the ship took off, screaming his head off. When I emerged from the porch his face lit up, he wiped early tears away from his eyes. He ran over to hug me. I was crying so much, I couldn't get the words out. All that I did was sob and moan. He thought I was just scared. My mom and sister came to the back porch. My sister was crying and scared. My mom had a rifle in her hand pointed at our backyard, but she lowered it when she saw me. Here voice shrieked as she asked where my brother was. My father darted his head back and forth finally realizing that he wasn't there. I continued to cry and managed to get out, they took him. My father collapsed right in front of me, his face hollow and broken. My mother screamed. The ship was just reaching the tree line and finally slipped out of sight.
"My parents didn't move for a long time. We all just sat there like stone pillars, unable to process what happened. The authorities didn't hold back when they started their short investigation. They said the odds of finding him were slim, they hadn't found many of the slave victims, at least not alive. If they couldn't recover him within two days, the odds dropped to nearly zero. After a month, they stopped talking to us. I think my parents got a report after a year saying the case was officially closed and without new evidence, they were going to suspend any further investigations into my brother's disappearance. My father never admitted it but I know he looked at me with disgust from then on. It was my job as the older brother to protect the family. I failed. I was a coward and I should have protected him, made sure he was safe. Instead, I only thought about myself. It should have been me who was taken. I know my father thought the same."
"I doubt that very much," Dani said. "Your parents loved you. I'm sure they would have been just as heartbroken if it had been you."
"Brax, I'm sorry for putting you in that position," Zavik said. "If I'd have known, I wouldn't have made you go."
"I wanted to go," Brax said. "I'm the one who's sorry. I put your lives and the mission in jeopardy to satisfy my own selfish hunger for revenge. That's why I felt I needed to tell you about my brother. I think you deserve to know after what I did."
"Well, I don't think I can blame you," Zavik said, "and I can't say I wouldn't have done the same if I was in your position. But you have to tell us these things. If we understood what was going on we could have been better prepared. Instead, we almost got ourselves killed."
"I know," Brax said. "I didn't go with the intentions of killing the slavers and freeing the slaves, honest. But standing there, knowing they were so close. Being the only thing standing between their freedom and a life of slavery or death, I couldn't help myself. I heard my brother's voice crying out for help. I had to do something. If you don't want me on your ship, I'll understand."
Zavik laid a hand on his shoulder and said, "Don't be ridiculous. We're a team, friends. You just have to talk to us, tell us about what's going on. We want to know."
"Thanks," Brax said, "and I am sorry for not telling you before."
"Those people are going to be all right," Dani said, "because of what you did. I think your brother would be proud of that, don't you?"
"Yeah," he said. He turned to leave the cockpit.
"Hey!" Zavik said. "You going to be ok?"
"Yeah, I just need to clear my head."
"Ok, we need you," Zavik said.
"Thanks."
Zavik sat down next to Dani. The Rinada passed through a few portals before being spat out above the desolate world of Garos that was just beginning to be disturbed by colonists. She made her way to the colonist camp and sat the ship down on the landing platform. Not much had changed in the last week. The sun was setting and a pink film glistened off the command center. The deep blue sky was covered by a thin layer of wispy white clouds. They grew orange and purple as they raced towards the horizon, chasing the last rays of the sun. Zavik looked at the camp and thought, they only need to get one more item and the
y'll be set. He felt fairly confident that getting the farming equipment would be much easier than getting the power cores. Surely they wouldn't have to steal any from slavers at least.
Chapter 15
A few colonists approached the Rinada, and Zavik lowered the cargo hold to reveal the power cores. Zavik and Dani, along with Rudy left the ship. Brax was in his room, and Charra still had no desire to talk with anyone on the colony. Almost all of the crates were unloaded when they got off. General Walters approached the ship, flanked by a half-dozen men.
He saluted and said, "Mr. Khan, we truly appreciate the delivery. Without these power cores, we'd be dead in the water."
"Oh, it's our pleasure," Zavik said. "We're just glad we could find some at all for you." His voice was a little accusatory.
"Trouble finding some?" the General asked.
"Some, yes," Zavik said. "Seems one of the four main factories in the Galaxy was destroyed. There's now a shortage of supply. The other three factories are working at capacity to fill orders. They're sold out for months."
"I take it, I don't want to know where these power cores come from?" the General asked.
"Probably not."
He huffed. "Corporate sabotage, not surprising. Drives up the prices."
"It wasn't corporate sabotage," Zavik said. "It was something else, something more sinister maybe."
"What are you getting at, Khan?"
"You don't know anything about the random attacks that have been happening do you? Strange ships that no one can identify. Attacking who knows what because the Council is keeping it a secret."
